Aron gulped at the revelation. He can't even imagine how bad it would have been for someone like him, who regularly faced the problems from arduous erections. "So why are you keeping it with you?" Julia was very particular about only picking the herbs that she required for her project.
"For you, of course." Her answer made him even more confused. Was she taking him as an impotent? Watching that she had no intention of clarifying her position, he had to ask the girl himself.
"Why would I need that?" Julia stared at him for a while before bursting out in laughter. "Pahh.. haha.. what are you thinking, genius? Do you even know how much these things sell for in the market?"
Aron scratched his head in understanding. "Ohh... Are these things that precious?" Julia had walked away from him. "You have no idea, boy hehe.." Her voice reached him without her turning around. Left alone, Aron didn't fret over the matter any longer.
***
*Purr* *Purr* "hmm?" Aron heard a very low growl, turning his head he tried to locate the source of the sound, ready to fend off any small animal. But he can't see anything. *Purr* *Purr* The sounds didn't stop and intrigued by them, he walked closer to the thick bushes where the sounds seemed to be originating from.
*Purr* From the corner of his eyes he saw a back mass rapidly dash to the side, trying to run away. "A cat?" Slowly moving through the bush he closed in on the small creature and found a small feline purring at him, trying to scare him away.
"Haha.. you sure are brave, little one!" He put away his spear before extending his hand to pick up the little guy. "Come here! Haha.." The kitten made efforts to run away but Aron managed to get hold of it. *Grrrrr* *Grrrr* "A feisty one indeed hehe.."
The feline had extraordinarily soft fur and mesmerizing dark pupils. It was definitely vexed, trying to show its defiance by swiping its small claws at him. "I am sure she will love you, let me bring you away for a minute." Julia must see this. He had never seen such an astonishing cat before.
*Puurrr* *Purrr* As soon as he took a step back, he heard another growl. "Hmm.. another one?" He located another one of the same species, hidden behind the bushes. Putting the first one under his arm, he went ahead to pick the other one.
"Ahhh..!!" Right then, accidentally his foot slipped and he found himself sliding down a large ditch. "Shit..!!" This hole in the ground was very well hidden, thus he didn't notice and clumsily tumbled into it.
*Meeew* The cat in his grip wiggled its way out, taking advantage of his situation. But right now Aron had no attention to spare towards them rather he had been stupefied by the stunning scenery inside the ditch.
A meter away from him he saw an entrance to a small cave. This ditch was the way out from this underground space. What was interesting about this cave was the multitude of small herbs that adorned its walls. Each one of them was glowing with a dim light of its own.
One look and even a noob like him can tell that these were some expensive plants. Each one of them was giving off its own unique scent despite not being any larger than regular grass. *Rush* He saw the two cats run deeper in the tunnel leaving him on his butt.
Standing up he walked closer and was about to touch one of the plants when he stopped himself. Recalling Julia's earlier words he restrained his curiosity. If a single touch of the earlier mushroom was enough to enhance his libido, what was stopping these ones from instantly killing him?
Feeling the dryness of his throat he gulped a mouthful of saliva. Looking deeper into the tunnel he saw the kittens staring at him from a distance. The herbs deeper inside the tunnel were giving off an intense light, such that the whole cave was illuminated from it.
The exotic scene overcame the caution in his heart and he walked on the small paths leading to the end of the tunnel. Even though he was curious to see what was lying at the end, he wasn't foolish enough to announce his presence.
Taking full precautions he kept his spear in his hand and made sure to not make any sound from his gradual step. Different types of plants had germinated at this place. Some had small yellow flowers, others with only leaves, and a few more that were more too strange to describe.
'Hmm..?' Aron can feel the mana inside of him bubbling in joy. Just by breathing the air in this place was having a great impact on his cultivation. It was even better than taking a spirit-gathering pill. No, it was even better than taking two at once. His mind was going abuzz at this discovery.
'It should not be a surprise. After all, even the sprit gathering pills are created from different types of exotic plants only.' Aron came to the edge of the tunnel and found it being attached to a different one. This place was made up of a system of tunnels.
Lacking any options, he chose to follow the kittens from a distance. Those little guys have given up on scaring the human away and lazily walked down their path like they were very much familiar with this area.
*Breathe* Not wanting to waste even a single minute exploring this paradise, Aron kept taking silent yet deep breaths. The vessel inside his body was rapidly getting filled with the collected mana.
'Damn.. how good it can be if I could cultivate at this place, even for a week.' There would have been enormous benefits to anyone who could cultivate in such mana rich environment. Unfortunately, this was not exactly a safe place to leave yourself vulnerable.
*Meow* *Meow* The kittens looked absolutely in bliss as both of them rolled around in the heavenly grass. One of the reasons why Aron found the courage to venture inside here was these little guys.
Animals are sensitive to danger even from a small age. If this place was some kind of lair to a powerful beast, these little guys would never have been so carefree around here.
One more turn and Aron found himself at the end of the underground cave. What he saw was absolute bliss. This place was more than 20 meters in both dimensions, covered entirely in large quantities of divine herbs.
There was a small mound at the center which must have acted as a refuge for the little guys. He took his time exploring around each and every corner. 'Hmm... I think it's better to inform Julia about it.'
This cave was a treasure trove. There was no way he could pick up these herbs and carry them, all by himself. There were no signs of any beast visiting this place in a while. Why else would a cat be brave enough to give birth to her litters at such a place?
*Crunch* Suddenly his hair stood on end as he felt a presence right behind him. The spear in his hand promptly spun, only to meet an obstruction. "Ease slave boy. Do you want to be hunted down by the royal guards for the murder of an heir of the noble family?"
Aron's heart calmed down listening to the soft voice. With a deep sigh, he retracted his spear, held between Julia's palms. "I am sorry about that. I got spooked. You should have called out to me."
"Huh.. how would I know that it's you and not a beast waiting for me here." She was staring all around in awe while talking to him. "So this is where you have been lazing around? You stumbled upon gold this time, boy."
Julia had her attention at the plants, trying to categorize them in her mind. "Dammit.. this thing has been right under my feet and I had missed it so many times. What rotten luck!" She was a regular visitor to this hidden valley and it didn't feel good having your slave point you to the real treasure.
"I was going to inform you about it. How did you find me here?" He directed his question to the careless girl who kneeled to check on a specific plant. "Wow.. even a silver ginseng!" She had completely ignored the boy, carefully pulling out the plant with its roots and placing it in her ring.
"Don't fight me for this, boy. You are not getting this. I need this thing." Aron hurriedly waved his hands. "That will be preposterous for me. How can I lay my hands on my lady's possession?"
"Good.. you are smart. Apart from this ginseng, you can keep a third of all these plants here. I will take the other third and we will leave others with the last portion. They can figure out from there." Aron didn't even get to hear her later sentence as his mind exploded from the declaration.
He can keep a third of all this? Considering how excited Julia was, these herbs might be quite valuable. She didn't even think twice before allocating a third to him. From his experience he can tell that had there been someone else than Julia, he would not even have gotten crumbs from this discovery. Worse a few of them might have tried to silence him, to keep this loot a secret.
"Ahem.. you mean, I can keep a.. third of all this?" Julia was too busy carefully identifying every plant and picking them one by one. Aron saw her skip over those that were not yet mature.
"Haan? Don't be greedy, boy. A third is more than what you can ask for. Though you discovered this place, it's only because of me that you can get your hands on them. Touch the wrong one and you would have been sleeping for the next 5 days huh.." Julia totally misunderstood him.
"Haha... Please tell me something, Miss Julia?" She was exasperated, being distributed by this idiot time after time. "Shoot it." Aron put on the best smile that he possibly could, showing his entire set of teeth. "Are you an angel?"
"Huh? Have you gone mad?" She can't make any sense of his ramblings but Aron's heart was bubbling with joy. This was a fortune that he landed right in his feet, all because of this generous goddess.
"Please miss Julia, can I hug you once?" His words had no hidden intentions. This girl had truly won him over. This was his way of showing his genuine appreciation. On the other side of the cave, Julia's face was completely red from such a crude request that came out of nowhere.
Sure the boy was handsome but she was not as fickle as Hestia. "Ahem.. nope. Let me tell you, I am not interested in a relationship with a boy just yet. So don't push your luck." She huffed in slight anger before resuming her task at hand.
"Hehe.." Aron didn't care that this girl was misunderstanding him time after time. He was just too happy to even correct her. But it was better for him to not annoy her anymore. She might even throw him out or worse cut off his share.
Letting the girl handle the hardest part, he instead picked up the kittens, playing with them to pass his time. From the distance, Julia will sneak a glance at him. She had thought that the boy would put up a tantrum after being denied by her but he chose to ignore her, altogether.
"Oi.. idiot! If you have so much time then go and pick these specific herbs from the tunnels leading here." She pointed his attention to one of the dark green grass with purple buds.
Aron was happy to be of some use and with a nod, walked away. "Make sure not to touch anything else!" He heard her caution on his way out.
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